Sheilajeanne

I got my start when I bought a Tandy's beginner kit, which came with 8 weeks of free lessons. If you are close to a Tandy's store, I can highly recommend this. Their tools are good enough quality to get you started in this wonderful hobby!

Since Al made just about every conceivable thing out of leather, it comes as no surprise to me that he'd make holsters. But proving the holster was actually made by him, and not someone copying him...well, that's another story. I'd have to see proof of provenance from the seller. Would love to see a photo! Do you have access to one? Edit: Al actually did a book on making holsters. His books always featured photos, or at least drawings of the items he'd made, showing the steps in the construction. For every pattern he published and every Craftaid he put his name on, there was an actual piece of leather work he'd made. https://tandyleather.ca/products/how-to-make-holsters-book?_pos=1&_psq=How+to+make+hol&_ss=e&_v=1.0

The main problem I see is the rapid turnover of staff (due to low wages mainly) means the staff isn't as knowledgeable as it once was. Even the managers aren't on the ball. I was looking for a particular tool, and the manager couldn't find it. He had to go and hunt for my mentor, Bill who was on his lunch break. Bill knew EXACTLY where it was! I remember this story - sort of a modern day parable - of someone who started a hamburger stand. They did everything right, and soon had a thriving business. They expanded, and hired more people and things were going great. Then the economy took a nosedive, and someone with a fancy business degree told the owner he'd have to 'tighten his belt'. They suggested he buy cheaper products and lay off staff and shorten the hours of the ones he kept. Needless to say, neither his staff nor his customers were happy with the changes, and his business suffered. Fortunately, he was smart enough to realize what the problem was. He fired the MBA, and changed things back to the way they had been before. After a number of tough months, his business was thriving once again. So, Charly, pretty much what you said above!

I probably should do that! I noticed the leather I have in my storage cupboard all seems to be about 4-5 oz. whereas some of it was marked as 3-4 oz. when I purchased it. That's the main reason the side I just purchased was marked as 2-3 oz. And oh, it is one heck of a nice looking side! Yup, I certainly put that 20% off coupon to good use!

When I was moving to my current town, I'd just bought a new vehicle and it didn't have a hitch yet, and I needed to tow my tent trailer to my new home. The only vehicle I could find available to rent with a hitch was a (nearly) brand new Ford F150 pickup truck. I tell yah, if I ever wanted to pick up guys, I now know what to drive in order to get them looking...

Fred, that's AMAZING!! Only SIX DAYS?? How long ago was that? I'm more used to hearing stories like mine, where a small parcel took 6 weeks to get from Ontario to somewhere in the North-eastern states, and a package Frodo sent to Romania took nearly FOUR MONTHS to get there! Was it sent by something other than U.S. Post?

During my riding days, there was a dog at the stable that was as fond of carrots as the horses were! I used to save one for her! Photos: YUM!! A new toy to destroy Second photo: same toy, about a week later. The brand name was Tire Biter. The rubber was reinforced with threads. I guess the only thing that would have saved it was if they'd reinforced it with steel bands, like they do with car and truck tires!

Yeah, rawhide is responsible for a lot of dogs needing surgery. Do not give my dogs rawhide chews - only shank bones that are too big and hard for them to swallow! I know a lot of dogs die due to eating things they shouldn't, and have always been careful what I give them, but you can never be TOO careful! I never would have dreamed Star would eat a nylon leash or collar! And it was very hard to find toys she wouldn't destroy after just a couple of weeks, if not days! I was just really lucky she had a cast iron gut! I'm glad to know most dogs can chew on wood with no bad effects. I actually gave Star branches to play with when keeping her in toys became too expensive! You see that orange toy in the photo? That's a Bad Cuz. It's like a big ball with feet, ears and a squeaker. A REALLY annoying squeaker... She went through a number of them during her time on this planet. I'd remove the feet from it before giving it to her, as I knew she'd chew them off. The ears were too tiny to bother with. First, she'd go after the squeaker. It might last a couple of weeks before she pulled it out. Fortunately, she never swallowed it. Then, she'd start working on the squeaker hole. The main advantage of the Cuz toys is they are made of REALLY thick rubber. It would take her awhile, but eventually, she'd rip the squeaker hole open, and tear off a piece. If I noticed this about to happen, I'd chuck the toy in the garbage. But there were several times when I noticed her chewing something, and realized it was a chunk she'd ripped out of the toy. I'd head towards her to grab it out of her mouth, and I swear...she'd wait until I was a couple of feet away, then swallow it! I'd find it in her poop a day or two later... Here's that same Bad Cuz just before I tossed it a few months later: You can see the cracks starting around the squeaker hole!

Local shipping rates are pricey, too, and when I shipped two small parcels from Ontario to the eastern U.S., it took them about 6 weeks to arrive! So, cross-border is a PITA no matter which direction the package is going Had a much better experience with shipping a teacup from Ontario to Quebec - it arrive intact, and the trip only took a couple of days!

To respond to the folks who suggested ordering from their favourite stores in Wyoming or Ohio, guys, I'm CANADIAN!! Do you realize just how badly you get dinged for cross-border shipping these days?? It really is ridiculous! There are still two Tandy stores within roughly an hour's drive, so I will likely be buying from them, and probably paying to have stuff shipped. But when it comes to actually buying LEATHER, nothing beats hands-on. I didn't ask why they were closing. I assume the usual reasons - not enough sales/customers. I'd never met the man I spoke to before. He just got pulled into the store to do the dirty work of closing it down. Certainly don't envy him his job! BTW - just remembered my mentor, Bill, was the one who suggested I check out this site back when I was first getting started! Another thing to thank him for, posthumously.

Nope, not necessarily. The dog in the picture ate half of a nylon leash, plus an entire nylon collar, and never suffered any ill effects. I didn't even know she'd eaten the collar until I couldn't find it when I needed it 3 days later! I did find the plastic buckle on the floor, but assumed that maybe my cat had knocked it off my leatherworking bench, as I use these buckles for collars, etc. Do NOT underestimate a dog's digestive system... The photos show a black Kong (the most durable Kong) on Day 1, then the same toy a few days later. The dog in question lived to 14.5 years, and was rarely ill a day in her life.

Good news - I had a certificate that gave me 20% off regular priced items at Tandy for the month of June. So, this being the last week of June, I visited my closest Tandy store in Barrie, Ontario. Bad news: I was shocked to see that the store's marquee had been blanked out, and that there was a sign on the store door saying they were closing for good. I was about to return to my car, when I saw there was someone inside the store, beckoning to me. I went inside, and was told the store was about to close for good at 4 p.m. today, and I was going to be their very last customer. He was just about to lock the door forever when I showed up. This is the store that started my leatherwork adventure back in 2015 https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/65312-is-everything-from-tandy-sub-par/page/2/ My mentor, Bill, passed away in 2018, and is greatly missed. The man who helped me with my purchase today is the regional manager for Ontario, and remembers him well and spoke very fondly of him. https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/82652-heres-to-you-bill/?tab=comments#comment-556218 The closing of this store means the only stores close to me will be in either Markham or Mississauga, neither of which are close to where I live (Simcoe County). The good news is, with my 20% off certificate I did some serious damage to my credit card, and purchased a very nice side, plus some dye, resist and two spools of thread. But dammit, Barrie Tandy, I will miss you!

Wow, now that's an eye-opener!! Fortunately, I've only ever rented from reputable rental places like U-Haul or Enterprise Rent-a-Car! Worst thing that happened to me was when I was driving in Scotland (my first time driving on the 'wrong' side of the road) and didn't allow enough clearance between the left side of the car and the rear of a bus. I lost the passenger side mirror. Fortunately, the bus didn't notice , and what the rental car place charged for the damage was less than I'd expected!

I went fishing this morning, but after a short time, I ran out of worms. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cottonmouth with a frog in his mouth. "Frogs are good bass bait," I thought to myself. Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth, I grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in my bait bucket. Just then, I realized I had a problem, how was I going to release the snake without getting bit? So, I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniel's and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. The snakes eyes rolled back and he went limp. I released him into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog. A little later, I felt a nudge at my foot. There was that same snake with two more frogs in his mouth. Life is good in the South.

Yes, pretty sure I still have it. Will double check in a bit when I go downstairs to my craftroom. Like I said, it does not make a good impression, but if you are skilled with a dremel grinder, you may be able to deepen the pattern, and make it into a decent tool.

The man who owned the shop had been taught harness making by a Mennonite craftsperson, Isaac Baker. At one time, he had a business making harnesses for draft horses. I remember coming into his shop, and seeing an employee busy hand sewing a decorative scotch top that sits on top of the collar. (Have a look at the Budweiser Clydesdales if you're not sure what I'm talking about.) As time went by, I guess he decided there wasn't enough demand for this sort of work, so he changed his business to cater to English and western riders, selling everything from tack to books on horses. Repairs were still a sideline, though, and he did them very cheaply. He loved to talk, and I remember getting into a very long conversation with him about people we knew. When I finally turned to leave the shop, I realized I hadn't paid, and asked him how much I owed. He shrugged, and said, "Throw a couple of bucks into that jar. It's my kid's pony fund." Well, when you sell saddles that begin at $2,600, the money you get for fiixing a broken rein or halter is really not that important!

Very nice, Tom! As a (retired) horse person, I got a laugh out of you sig: horses: fixing stuff they break! During my time as a horse owner, i developed a very good relationship with the local tack shop, which also did repairs!

One of these days I'm going to do a bag with the triqueta on it. I already did a prototype on a piece of scrap: I've also seen it used as a religious symbol, especially for churches with Celtic roots, as it can represent the Trinity. I used to attend St Patrick's Anglican Church, and they used it as their logo.

Sometimes I've found a pattern needs a ridiculous number of stamps, most of which I have. But especially if there's just ONE stamp I don't have, I will see if I can use the closest match in my collection that I do have. Of course, I'd test it out on a piece of scrap to see if it was going to work first!

Sheridan is a style of carving, not a type of tool. You can do Sheridan style tooling with just about any type of leather tool. The only thing that makes sense to me re. modifying a Tandy tool would be to make the patterns deeper as some of them are so shallow that they don't make a good enough impression. This can be corrected by using an engraving tool (dremel) to deepen the pattern.

Um, what is a patch cutter? Nice work, Chuck!

I really will have to clean up my shop, and post a photo at some point. I now have an area that's at least 10x the size of what I started with, which was this: About the only thing that's the same is the chair, the small black 2 drawer organizer on my bench, the 6 drawer organizer beside the chair, plus, of course, my tools. The closet I have for storing leather takes up nearly a full wall at the end of the room, with lots of additional storage space under my HUGE workbench. The workbench and the cupboards and drawers beneath it were at one time a kitchen counter which the previous owner of the house used in HER craftroom for working with fabrics. My neighbour across the road, who was friends with her told me she had FIVE sewing machines! None of which, of course, would have been usable for leatherwork... Things I like about my NEW shop - the space, the SPACE!! Things I DON'T like: it's in the basement, down 13 stairs, and there's NO WINDOWS!

Heck, I have tools on my bench older than that!! On taking a closer look at that saddlebag, the conchos on it probably cost more than $20! Lovely piece of work! The angriest I've ever been at a 'customer' was when i was selling off my mom's posessions at a yard sale. My mom's main joy in life was knitting and crocheting. I had this beautiful hand-crocheted Queen bedspread in a box inside the garage. I had not put it in the sale as I hadn't decided what to do with it. It was crocheted from rather fine thread, not yarn, and would have been a ton of work to make. A woman came by in the afternoon, and noticed it, and asked me what I wanted for it. She was a knitter/craftsperson herself, so she had a good idea of how much work a piece that size would have taken. I told her I had no idea, and anyway, it wasn't really for sale. She came back late in the day, just as I was ready to close up shop. Lowballers at yard sales routinely do this, hoping you'll be ready to GIVE your stuff away to get rid of it. She still wanted the bedspread. She offered me $20 for it! I had a very hard time being civil to her. I have a black cat that sleeps on my bed. The spread was off-white, so not a good fit for me. I also have a beautiful hand-made quilt on my bed that was a wedding gift from an aunt, and really didn't want to replace it with the one my mom had crocheted. I also, regrettably, don't have any kids to pass things on to. I wound up giving the bedspread away to a cousin who had known my mom quite well.

Sooo...wonder how many other people on this board are going to be thinking of tidying up their shops now? Gotta make 'em look good for the camera!